The Blade and Sword

CHAPTER 19-THE INVASION

Then, a few mysterious masked figures appeared. One of them is Anmenkon. They immediately surrounded Koten.

Anmenkon: “Excuse me… I have to bring this kid with me…”

Hokugenmon’s elder: “Huh?? What did you say??”

Kōgo: “What do you want with him?? Who are you??”

Those righteous sects only watched without doing anything as they were still observing what those masked men wanted to do. When Kōgo ran toward them as he wanted to save Koten from their hands, suddenly another bunch of masked men appeared and stood from above the stage and spread some powder into the air. For the record, the powder is a Qi-energy removal powder which can remove anyone's internal Qi-energy when they inhale it. Then slowly their Qi-energy will disappear from their body but only temporarily. A few hours later, their Qi-energy will return automatically. This poison has two kinds, one with powder-form and the other one is pill-form which is very common to see in the pugilist world. Then two of those mysterious masked figures also spread the powder in Kōgo's direction.When Kōgo inhales it a little, he knew right away that the powder was the Qi-energy removal powder. So he quickly covered his nose with his other hand and also shouted out loud to those righteous sects.

Kōgo: “Watch out…!!! It’s Qi-energy removal powder. Don’t inhale it…!!!”

Certainly, Kōgo quickly struck with a Qi-energy blow through his sword to neutralize the powder that was floating in the air near him. On the other side, Anmenkon with his other companions quickly took Koten away with them and disappeared. Some of the righteous sects suspected those masked figures might be from Dōgonkyō, the evil sect that was rumored to have revived a few years ago. But still, they can't guess what they want and what they’re going to do with Koten by taking him away. On the other side, the Goryō-Meishu keep staring at Kōgo like his sworn enemy. Kōgo knew it but he didn't care and he quickly joined his fellow sect side with Koshin there. Certainly, they were so surprised to see Kōgo here.

Koyō-Chōrō: “Senior bro… Why are you here??” (talk to Kōgo),

Koshin: “Yes… Shishō. What are you doing here??”

Kōgo: “To watch you… It's your first tournament. I was quite worried, so I followed. Is everyone okay??”

Kogen-Chōrō: ‘Yes, senior bro… We’re fine, except…” (mean Koten),

Kōgo: “I knew… Let's talk about this after we’re returned home…”

However, the tournament had not yet ended as something happened in the middle of the battle. The Ryū’unsō’s elders wanted to disqualify Unkensō as the winner this time, since something weird happened to their disciple, Koten. They suspected Koten was doping or used some kind of forbidden pill to increase his Qi-energy instantly with the help from those masked figures. In other words, Koten must be those masked men accomplished. Not only that, they also wanted to prohibit Unkensō from participating in the tournament in the future, which means Unkensō’s chance to get into the big-four will be gone forever. However, Kōgo disagreed. He said they decided too fast, before investigating it first. They still don't know what actually happened to Koten yet. Not only that, they also have no evidence that can prove Koten was really wrong. Kōgo asked for their permission to give Unkensō time to investigate this matter. However, they still keep accusing Koten and it seems they won’t approve of it, so it drives Kōgo mad. He said out loud to them, if they still speak nonsense, then feel free to debate with him by spar on this stage, meanwhile he struck the tip of the sword handle to the ground and caused Qi-energy blowing more than a few meters away from his position. Everyone on the scene, including the Goryō-Meishu can feel the pressure from his Qi-energy as it was intimidating them. No one dared to speak at that moment as they knew that no one here can match this number one retired pugilist, even the Goryō-Meishu. Not to mention, that some of them were poisoned by the powder. Then the Goryō-Meishu suddenly speaks out.

Goryō-Meishu: “Enough…!!! Say no more, everyone… He has a point, but rule is rule. Since one of your disciples has disobeyed the rule, you must be disqualified from this tournament…”

Kōgo: “Fine… But regarding disqualifying us in the future tournament, it seems so harsh and not fair…”

Goryō-Meishu: “Uhm… (think for a while), How about this… One of your disciples must fight against each representative from the big three sects. If Unkensō won all of the three rounds, you still can join the next tournament… But if you lose just one round, then it's over…”

Surely, everyone from Unkensō does not accept the decision from the Goryō-Meishu and they start protesting against it.

Goryō-Meishu: “Silent..!!! No debate…!!! This is the best I can offer. Take it or leave it…!!!”

Then Kōgo raised his hands as if he was asking his fellows and disciples to stay silent.

Kōgo: “Fine…!!! We’ll accept it…!!! Where and when??”

Goryō-Meishu: “One month from now, on this stage…”